Introduction to Poetry Poetry vs Prose Poetry v

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Introduction to Poetry

Introduction to Poetry

Poetry vs. Prose • Poetry v Defies simple definition v Can be written in

Poetry vs. Prose • Poetry v Defies simple definition v Can be written in meter or verse v Occurs in many forms • Prose v. The ordinary form of written language v. Occurs in two major forms • Fiction • Nonfiction

“When You Are Old” When you are old and gray and full of sleep

“When You Are Old” When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace And loved your beauty with love false or true But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

Poem…continued… And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love

Poem…continued… And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And his face amid a crowd of stars. —William Butler Yeats

Types of Poetry Narrative: non-dramatic, objective verse with regular rhyme scheme and meter, which

Types of Poetry Narrative: non-dramatic, objective verse with regular rhyme scheme and meter, which relates a story or narrative

“Honor be to Mudjekeewis!” Cried the warriors, cried the old men, When he came

“Honor be to Mudjekeewis!” Cried the warriors, cried the old men, When he came in triumph homeward With the sacred Belt of Wampum, From the regions of the North-Wind, From the kingdom of Wabasso, From the land of the White Rabbit. He had stolen the Belt of Wampum From the neck of Mishe-Mokwa, From the Great Bear of the mountains, From the terror of the nations, As he lay asleep and cumbrous On the summit of the mountains, Like a rock with mosses on it, Spotted brown and gray with mosses. —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha”

Types of Poetry • Lyric: subjective, reflective poetry with regular rhyme scheme, which reveals

Types of Poetry • Lyric: subjective, reflective poetry with regular rhyme scheme, which reveals the poet’s thoughts and feelings to create a single, unique impression

When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds

When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas, But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies But keep your fancy free. ” But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me. When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, “The heart out of the bosom Was never given in vain; ’Tis paid with sighs a plenty And sold for endless rue. ” And I am two-and-twenty, And oh, ’tis true. —A. E. Housman, “When I Was One-and-Twenty”

Types of Poetry • Ode (a form of lyric poetry): elaborate lyric verse, which

Types of Poetry • Ode (a form of lyric poetry): elaborate lyric verse, which deals seriously with a dignified theme

They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true

They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. —Lawrence Binyon, “Ode of Remembrance”

Types of Poetry • Blank Verse: unrhymed lines of regular rhythm (usually iambic pentameter)

Types of Poetry • Blank Verse: unrhymed lines of regular rhythm (usually iambic pentameter)

Tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the

Tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. —William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, scene v

Types of Poetry • Free Verse: unrhymed lines without regular rhythm

Types of Poetry • Free Verse: unrhymed lines without regular rhythm

Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of men Thistles spike

Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of men Thistles spike the summer air Or crackle open under a blue-black pasture Every one a revengeful burst Of resurrection, a grasped fistful Of splintered weapons and Icelandic frost thrust up From the underground stain of a decayed Viking. They are like pale hair and the gutturals of dialects. Every one manages a plume of blood. Then they grow gray, like men. Mown down, it is a feud. Their sons appear, Stiff with weapons, fighting back over the same ground. —Ted Hughes, “Thistles”

Types of Poetry • Epic: a long, dignified narrative poem, which gives the account

Types of Poetry • Epic: a long, dignified narrative poem, which gives the account of a hero important to his nation or race

Hear me! The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them

Hear me! The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of these princes’ heroic campaigns. There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes. This terror of the hall-troops had come far. A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on as his powers waxed and his worth was proved. In the end each clan on the outlying coasts beyond the whale-road had to yield to him and begin to pay tribute. That was one good king. —Seamus Heaney (translator), Beowulf

Types of Poetry • Ballad: simple, narrative verse that tells a story to be

Types of Poetry • Ballad: simple, narrative verse that tells a story to be sung or recited; the folk ballad develops over many years, while the literary ballad has a single author

When Robin Hood and Little John, Down a down, Went oer yon bank of

When Robin Hood and Little John, Down a down, Went oer yon bank of broom, Said Robin Hood bold to Little John, We have shot for many a pound. Hey down a down! —Traditional, “Robin Hood”

More Types of Poetry • Idyll or Pastoral: lyric poetry describing the life of

More Types of Poetry • Idyll or Pastoral: lyric poetry describing the life of the shepherd in pastoral, bucolic, idealistic terms

Come live with me and be my Love, And we will all the pleasures

Come live with me and be my Love, And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dales and fields Or woods or steepy mountain yields. And we will sit upon the rocks And see the shepherds feed their flocks By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies; A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle. —Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Nymph”

More Types of Poetry • Villanelle: a French verse form with very strict rules,

More Types of Poetry • Villanelle: a French verse form with very strict rules, calculated to appear simple and spontaneous: five tercets and a final quatrain, rhyming aba aba abaa. Lines 1, 6, 12, 18 and 4, 9, 15, 19 are refrain

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. —Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

More Types of Poetry • Light Verse: a general category of poetry written to

More Types of Poetry • Light Verse: a general category of poetry written to entertain, such as some lyric poetry, epigrams, and limericks. It can also have a serious side, as in parody or satire

I never saw a purple cow; I never hope to see one But I

I never saw a purple cow; I never hope to see one But I can tell you, anyhow, I’d rather see than be one! —Gelett Burgess, “The Purple Cow: Reflections on a Mythic Beast Who’s Quite Remarkable, at Least”

Even More Types of Poetry • Haiku: Japanese verse in three lines of 5,

Even More Types of Poetry • Haiku: Japanese verse in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, often depicting a delicate image

Whitecaps on the bay: A broken signboard banging In the April wind. —Richard Wright

Whitecaps on the bay: A broken signboard banging In the April wind. —Richard Wright

Even More Types of Poetry • Concrete poetry: poetry in which the layout of

Even More Types of Poetry • Concrete poetry: poetry in which the layout of the words adds to or reinforces the meaning

Lord, Who createdst man in wealth and store, Though foolishly he lost the same,

Lord, Who createdst man in wealth and store, Though foolishly he lost the same, Decaying more and more, Till he became Most poore: With Thee O let me rise, As larks, harmoniously, And sing this day Thy victories: Then shall the fall further the flight in me. My tender age in sorrow did beginne; And still with sicknesses and shame Thou didst so punish sinne, That I became Most thinne. With Thee Let me combine, And feel this day Thy victorie; For, if I imp my wing on Thine, Affliction shall advance the flight in me. —George Herbert, “Easter Wings”

Even More Types of Poetry • Limerick: humorous nonsense verse in five anapestic lines

Even More Types of Poetry • Limerick: humorous nonsense verse in five anapestic lines rhyming aabba; lines 1, 2 and 5 have three feet, lines 3 and 4 have two feet

There once was a man from Nantucket Who kept all his cash in a

There once was a man from Nantucket Who kept all his cash in a bucket. His daughter, named Nan, Ran away with a man, And, as for the bucket, Nantucket. —Anonymous, “The Man from Nantucket”

Rhyme • Repetition of sounds at the ends of words • End rhyme –

Rhyme • Repetition of sounds at the ends of words • End rhyme – Occurs at the end of a line • Internal Rhyme – Occurs when rhyming words fall within a line • Exact rhyme – The use of identical rhyming sounds • Slant Rhyme – The use of sounds that are similar but not identical

Examples of Rhyme • End rhyme My weekend was like any other; I went

Examples of Rhyme • End rhyme My weekend was like any other; I went to a movie with my mother. • Internal rhyme I enjoyed the shade in the hidden glade. • Exact rhyme Love and dove; slow and flow • Slanted rhyme Prove and glove; soul and foul

Rhyme Scheme • The regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem or stanza

Rhyme Scheme • The regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem or stanza • To indicate rhyme scheme, assign each final sound in the poem or stanza a different letter EXAMPLE: There’s little joy in life for me, And little terror in the grave; I’ve lived the parting hour to see Of one I would have died to save. a b The rhyme scheme for this stanza is: abab —Charlotte Brontë, “On the Death of Anne Brontë”

Stanza • A small group of lines in a poem, seen as a unit

Stanza • A small group of lines in a poem, seen as a unit • Usually separated by spaces • Often function like paragraphs in prose • Each states and develops one main idea

Stanza I cannot explain the sadness That’s fallen on my breast. An old, old

Stanza I cannot explain the sadness That’s fallen on my breast. An old, old fable haunts me, And will not let me rest. The air grows cool in the twilight, And softly the Rhine flows on; The peak of a mountain sparkles Beneath the setting sun. —Heinrich Heine, “Die Lorelei”

Types of Stanzas • Stanzas are commonly named according to the number of lines

Types of Stanzas • Stanzas are commonly named according to the number of lines that are found in them

Types of Stanzas Couplet—two-line stanza Tercet—three-line stanza Quatrain—four-line stanza Cinquain—five-line stanza Sestet—six-line stanza Heptasitch—sevenline

Types of Stanzas Couplet—two-line stanza Tercet—three-line stanza Quatrain—four-line stanza Cinquain—five-line stanza Sestet—six-line stanza Heptasitch—sevenline stanza Octet—eight-line stanza

Meter/Scansion • The rhythmic pattern of a poem • Determined by the number and

Meter/Scansion • The rhythmic pattern of a poem • Determined by the number and types of stresses, or beats, in each line • To describe the meter of a poem, scan its lines; scanning involves marking the stressed syllables and unstressed syllables

Stressed and Unstressed Syllables • Each stressed syllable is marked with a slanted line,

Stressed and Unstressed Syllables • Each stressed syllable is marked with a slanted line, and each unstressed syllable is marked with a horseshoe symbol • The stresses are then divided by vertical lines into groups called feet ^ ¢ ¢ ^ ^ ^ ¢ / her form¢ / retain, ¢ Did first ^ ^ ¢ / their hearts¢ / could ne’er / recall ¢ They thought ^ ^ ¢ I ween / that, when / the grave’s / dark wall ^ ^ ^ ¢ / of joy¢/ again. ¢ The light —Emily Brontë, “Song” ¢

Types of Feet • Iamb: a foot with one unstressed syllable followed by one

Types of Feet • Iamb: a foot with one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable, as in the word “afraid”

Types of Feet • Trochee: a foot with one stressed syllable followed by one

Types of Feet • Trochee: a foot with one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable, as in the word “heather”

Types of Feet • Anapest: a foot with two unstressed syllables followed by one

Types of Feet • Anapest: a foot with two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable, as in the word “disembark”

Types of Feet • Dactyl: a foot with one stressed syllable followed by two

Types of Feet • Dactyl: a foot with one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables, as in the word “solitude”

Types of Feet • Spondee: a foot with two stressed syllables, as in the

Types of Feet • Spondee: a foot with two stressed syllables, as in the word “workday”

 • A line in poetry is described as iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, or

• A line in poetry is described as iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, or spondaic according to the kind of foot that appears most often in the line. Lines are also described in terms of the number of feet that occur in them.

Monometer • Verse written in one-foot lines Sound the flute! Now it’s mute. Birds

Monometer • Verse written in one-foot lines Sound the flute! Now it’s mute. Birds delight Day and night. —William Blake, “Spring”

Dimeter • Verse written in two-foot lines O Rose thou art sick. The invisible

Dimeter • Verse written in two-foot lines O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm That flies in the night In the howling storm: Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. —William Blake, “The Sick Rose”

Trimeter • Verse written in three-foot lines I went to the Garden of Love

Trimeter • Verse written in three-foot lines I went to the Garden of Love And saw what I never have seen: A Chapel was built in the midst, Where I used to play on the green. —William Blake, “The Garden of Love”

Tetrameter • Verse written in four-foot lines I wandered thro’ each charter’d street Near

Tetrameter • Verse written in four-foot lines I wandered thro’ each charter’d street Near where the charter’d Thames does flow And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. —William Blake, “The Little Black Boy”

Pentameter • Verse written in five-foot lines But soft, what light through yonder window

Pentameter • Verse written in five-foot lines But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Hexameter • Verse written in six-foot lines He passeth by; and his weak spirit

Hexameter • Verse written in six-foot lines He passeth by; and his weak spirit fails To think how they may ache in icy hoods and mails. —John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”

Heptameter • Verse written in seven-foot lines And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere

Heptameter • Verse written in seven-foot lines And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout, But there is no joy in Mudville— mighty Casey has struck out. —Ernest Lawrence Thayer, “Casey at the Bat”

Octometer • Verse written in eight-foot lines Once upon a midnight dreary, while I

Octometer • Verse written in eight-foot lines Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. —Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

Sonnets • A sonnet is a 14 -line lyric poem with a single theme.

Sonnets • A sonnet is a 14 -line lyric poem with a single theme. • Sonnets vary but are usually written in iambic pentameter.

Italian Sonnet vs. English Sonnet (Petrarchan) Divided into two parts: octave and sestet Rhyme

Italian Sonnet vs. English Sonnet (Petrarchan) Divided into two parts: octave and sestet Rhyme scheme is abba cde or abba cd cd cd Octave proposes a question, states a problem or presents a brief narrative Sestet answers the question, solves the problem or comments on the narrative (Shakespearean) Divided into four parts: 3 quatrains and a couplet Rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg Each of the three quatrains usually explores a different variation of the main theme The couplet presents a summarizing or concluding statement

Italian (Petrarchian) Sonnet How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I

Italian (Petrarchian) Sonnet How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints—I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. —Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Sonnets from the Portuguese 43”

English (Shakespearian) Sonnet When in the chronicle of wasted time I see descriptions of

English (Shakespearian) Sonnet When in the chronicle of wasted time I see descriptions of the fairest wights, And beauty making beautiful old rhyme In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty’s best, Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow, I see their antique pen would have express’d Even such a beauty as you master now. So all their praises are but prophecies Of this our time, all you prefiguring; And, for they look’d but with divining eyes, They had not skill enough your worth to sing: For we, which now behold these present days, Had eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise. —William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 106”

Literary Terms Some literary terms used to describe how writers use words Many of

Literary Terms Some literary terms used to describe how writers use words Many of these terms are used in both poetry and prose

Diction The choices an author makes in using specific words (vocabulary) We romped until

Diction The choices an author makes in using specific words (vocabulary) We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother’s countenance Could not unfrown itself. —Theodore Rothke, “My Papa’s Waltz”

Syntax The choice an author makes in using specific word order and sentence structure

Syntax The choice an author makes in using specific word order and sentence structure Much have I traveled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; Round many western islands have I been Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. —John Keats, “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”

Alliteration The repetition of initial sounds When Stella strikes the tuneful string In scenes

Alliteration The repetition of initial sounds When Stella strikes the tuneful string In scenes of imitated spring… —Samuel Johnson, “To Miss —”

Assonance The repetition of a vowel sound within words She bound her green sleeve

Assonance The repetition of a vowel sound within words She bound her green sleeve on my helm, Sweet pledge of love’s sweet meed… —Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “She Bound Her Green Sleeve”

Consonance The repetition of a consonant sound within or at the end of words

Consonance The repetition of a consonant sound within or at the end of words Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. —Wilfred Owen, “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

Simile A comparison of two unlike things that are similar in some way, using

Simile A comparison of two unlike things that are similar in some way, using the words like or as. We watched the ghostly dancers spin. To sound of horn and violin, Like black leaves wheeling in the wind. —Oscar Wilde, “The Harlot’s House”

Metaphor A comparison of two unlike things that are similar in some way, without

Metaphor A comparison of two unlike things that are similar in some way, without the words like or as. Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us of the Road, Which to discover we must travel too. —Edward Fitzgerald, “The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám”

Onomatopoeia Words that sound like their meanings. The moan of doves in immemorial elms,

Onomatopoeia Words that sound like their meanings. The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees. —Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Come Down, O Maid”

Personification The attribution of human qualities to a non-human object. That orbéd maiden with

Personification The attribution of human qualities to a non-human object. That orbéd maiden with white fire laden, Whom mortals call the Moon, Glides glimmering o’er my fleecelike floor, By the midnight breezes stewn; —Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Cloud”

Apostrophe Addressing a non-human as though it were a person. (Can also be addressing

Apostrophe Addressing a non-human as though it were a person. (Can also be addressing a dead or absent person as though he or she were present. ) Busy old fool, unruly sun, Why doest thou thus Through windows and through curtains call on us? —John Dunne, “The Sun Rising”